1848 · New York
by WALKE, Henry (1808-1896)
New York: Sarony & Major, 1848. Hand coloured lithograph captioned: "Comore. M.C. Perry in Command. Supported by the Commands, of Captains J. Mayo, S.L.Breeze, F. Forrest. Commanders Wm. J. Mc Cluney, A. Bigelow, F. Buchanan, H.A. Adams, A.S. Mackenzie, G.A. Magruder, G.J. Van Brunt. Lieuts. Commanding S.S. Lee, S. Lockwood and J.M. Berrien. June. 14th. 1847." The third hand-coloured lithograph from Walke's incredibly rare Naval Portfolio of Mexican War scenes, featuring Commodore Perry.
This is the third lithographic print from The Naval Portfolio (1847-1848), the creation of Lieut. (later Rear Admiral) Henry Walke, who at the time was the second in command of the U.S.S. Vesuvius, a bomb brig of the Gulf Squadron. Walke participated in the naval actions against Mexico in the spring and summer of 1847, specifically the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz, the launching point for Scott's expedition against Mexico City, and Commodore Matthew Perry's expeditions up several rivers along the coast of Vera Cruz and Yucatan. Walke had served in the Navy for two decades at the time, and later had a distinguished career in the Civil War. He was a skilled but evidently self-taught artist, who executed numerous drawings and watercolors throughout his naval career. The Naval Portfolio prints, however, were his only major graphic publication. All commentators praise Walke for his accuracy as an artist and observer, including modern historians who have visited the actual sites he depicted. Equally, historians of the graphic arts have considered these prints among the best of the Mexican War, on par with Nebel's famous lithographs of army operations during the War. The present is the first of five prints in the portfolio devoted to Perry's Tabasco River expedition, the high point of Walke's service in the War. This is the only surviving visual documentation of the expedition, and the lack of popular interest in this action away from the high drama of the assault on Mexico may account for the evidently poor sales and consequent rarity of the Naval Portfolio. Perry's expedition was brought about as much by his desire to gain glory for the Navy and lack of other employment, as anything else. It was launched in June 1847, with a goal of securing the state of Tabasco for the Americans. Walke evidently executed all of his original drawings on the spot. In the latter half of 1847 and early 1848, with the role of the Navy effectively over in the War, Walke took nine months on leave. At least part of this time was spent in New York preparing the prints for publication, in which he took an active role, actually drawing four of the works himself on the lithograpic stones. The printing was done at the well-known firm of Sarony & Major, and distributed by Nathaniel Currier, who announced the set as available in his shop in an advertisement dated April 12, 1848.
Huseman, Sandweiss & Stewart, Eyewitness to War, 112, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123 and 114; Library of Congress, An Album of American Battle Art, pp.137-39; cf. G.A.Miles & W.S.Reese, America Pictured to the Life 47. (Inventory #: 40864)
This is the third lithographic print from The Naval Portfolio (1847-1848), the creation of Lieut. (later Rear Admiral) Henry Walke, who at the time was the second in command of the U.S.S. Vesuvius, a bomb brig of the Gulf Squadron. Walke participated in the naval actions against Mexico in the spring and summer of 1847, specifically the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz, the launching point for Scott's expedition against Mexico City, and Commodore Matthew Perry's expeditions up several rivers along the coast of Vera Cruz and Yucatan. Walke had served in the Navy for two decades at the time, and later had a distinguished career in the Civil War. He was a skilled but evidently self-taught artist, who executed numerous drawings and watercolors throughout his naval career. The Naval Portfolio prints, however, were his only major graphic publication. All commentators praise Walke for his accuracy as an artist and observer, including modern historians who have visited the actual sites he depicted. Equally, historians of the graphic arts have considered these prints among the best of the Mexican War, on par with Nebel's famous lithographs of army operations during the War. The present is the first of five prints in the portfolio devoted to Perry's Tabasco River expedition, the high point of Walke's service in the War. This is the only surviving visual documentation of the expedition, and the lack of popular interest in this action away from the high drama of the assault on Mexico may account for the evidently poor sales and consequent rarity of the Naval Portfolio. Perry's expedition was brought about as much by his desire to gain glory for the Navy and lack of other employment, as anything else. It was launched in June 1847, with a goal of securing the state of Tabasco for the Americans. Walke evidently executed all of his original drawings on the spot. In the latter half of 1847 and early 1848, with the role of the Navy effectively over in the War, Walke took nine months on leave. At least part of this time was spent in New York preparing the prints for publication, in which he took an active role, actually drawing four of the works himself on the lithograpic stones. The printing was done at the well-known firm of Sarony & Major, and distributed by Nathaniel Currier, who announced the set as available in his shop in an advertisement dated April 12, 1848.
Huseman, Sandweiss & Stewart, Eyewitness to War, 112, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123 and 114; Library of Congress, An Album of American Battle Art, pp.137-39; cf. G.A.Miles & W.S.Reese, America Pictured to the Life 47. (Inventory #: 40864)